Friday, February 25, 2011

Tonight, as I am trying to get my circadian rhythm back in track, and also processing through the emotional trauma that comes as part of my profession, I am nurturing my gratitude for my glorious days off. Despite the gruelling 13-hour shifts I put in, and having to work nights, it feels great to have four days off, to relax, decompress, and rejuvenate the body and soul. My work makes me thankful for the time off I get, and for the leisure opportunities it provides. And in the spirit of leisure, this weekend I am taking off to beautiful Jasper, in search of winter wonderland in the Rockies.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

I am currently nurturing gratitude for 'The Vagina Monologues' and 'V-Day.'

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a wonderful rendition of 'The Vagina Monologues' in my community. 'The Vagina Monologues' is essentially a play talking about vaginas, yes, 120 minutes of vaginas, and then some. The playwright, Eve Ensler, interviewed tons of women of different ages and ethnicities, asking them what they thought of their vaginas, and to basically, talk about vaginas. The end result is a beautifully empowered masterpiece, with a whole lot of humour and heartfelt truth about the violence towards women, both at home and around the world.

My first experience with 'The Vagina Monologues' was in 2001, when I got to watch a star-studded cast perform the play, including Eve Ensler and Oprah Winfrey, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. I must admit I was kinda shocked and embarrassed to hear the word 'vagina' so many times, but by the end of the night, I was chanting 'Vagina, vagina, vagina' with a whole arena full of women and men. And last night, I was not in the mood to be chanting vagina and almost did not go; however, I was very glad to have gone afterall, and watch my community come together through this play, 10 years after the fact, even though the play was on a much smaller scale, yet equally powerful and engaging. I especially enjoyed the piece 'The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy,' performed by Jody Tippett, about a lawyer turned sex worker who was a 'moan expert,' lol.

I also learned about V-Day, a global movement to end violence about women and girls. Here's the link:

http://www.vday.org/home

The proceeds from last night's show is benefitting a sexual assault counselling centre and a women's shelter, as well as a violence prevention program targeted towards youth.

Thank you, Eve Ensler, for writing a play that empowers so many women around the world.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Today I am nurturing my gratitude for the indoor race track that's available in my community, and open to the public, enabling me to run and train for race events even in the thick of winter, when there's snow and ice and slush everywhere. If it weren't for the race track, I would probably not be running till spring, and would have missed out on my beloved Sun Run, which has become somewhat of a personal tradition for me.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Today I am nurturing my gratitude for "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," the movie starring Gene Wilder. It was my first time watching the movie, and although I've heard lots about it, have somehow missed seeing the movie for so long. And what a great movie to watch, for all those who are young at heart, and sometimes feeling down from bureaucracy and work politics. Imagine my surprise when I realized the 'Oompa Loompa' song was part of the 1971 film's soundtrack! You can escape the movie, but not the endurance of a classic movie and classic songs :P

Thank you, "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" for making my Valentine's :P

Monday, February 7, 2011

As I get ready for bed, I am nurturing my gratitude for wool socks. Quality wool socks are the best ever, and every time I wear a pair of new wool socks, I feel like I am on cloud nine. They feel so comfortable, with such great support for my overworked feet (when you're working on your feet almost thirteen hours a day, or do some heavy duty walking/running, or have flat feet like I do, you suddenly start appreciating your feet a lot more).

I discovered wool socks a few years ago, as I was window shopping (a favourite pastime of mine) at a sports store. The label caught my eye, which said "Smartwool PhD". I thought to myself, "Honestly, PhD as a marketing strategy for socks, really?" I picked up the pair of socks, and sneered at the price, something around 19 or 20 dollars. Then I got reading about how the socks have great cushioning to the arch and toes, etc., and at the time I had just finished my first 10k run, and realized that blisters were becoming a problem, and since I only have two feet that work really hard, I decided to try out these highly intelligent socks. Remembering the first time I put those socks on still make me feel all warm and fuzzy, almost orgasmic if I might say so (hey, if people can get all tingly from shoes, I can get tingly from a brand new pair of socks ;-) Needless to say, I have become a fan of these doctorate socks, and well, the marketing strategy worked, lol.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Today I am nurturing my gratitude for Zumba, one of the most fun 'workouts' I have done in a while. So Zumba is basically a dance class, with latin, hip-hop, bellydance, and fitness moves blended together; the 'dance-fitness' routine is broken down and simple enough for most people to follow. The other great thing I found about Zumba is that in addition to fitness, the focus is on fun - the instructor was concentrating on her moves, but she was also able to create a light and fun atmosphere by improvising, and well, having fun. There were over 30 people in this fitness studio and we were all having a good time! In fact, there was even a girl on crutches moving to the latin grooves, so yep, Zumba is for everyone!

As I was grooving and 'working out' to Zumba music and moves, I ended up having one of my work fantasies - perhaps I can become a Zumba instructor? In the last six months I have fantasized about being a banker, a server, a writer, and now, a Zumba instructor. Good news: Zumba is THAT fun; bad news, this is not looking good for my target goal of making it through my first year as a nurse, in the hopes that my second year will be better and brighter. I had once heard a high level government official talk about how she had often wanted to work in retail; at the time, I had thought to myself, "Why would someone with a PhD, working such a prestigious job (she now happens to be the economic advisor of a country, although she never got to fulfill her retail worker fantasy), ever want to work retail?" Well, here I am, finally a professional and a non-student, and I am having work fantasies of being a restaurant server...

And yes, I did check the 'Instructor Training' section, although for now, I'll just continue to enjoy the fabulous dance classes being offered at my local Y :)

Thought I would finish the post with a lil' background on how I came across Zumba, since I've been musing upon it for a while. I first saw the Zumba logo last year in Seattle, as my boyfriend and I were exploring the city and its neighbourhoods. At that time, I wondered to myself, "What's Zumba?" and that was that. Then, just this past Christmas, my lovely boyfriend got me a Wii for Christmas, and of course, I started researching all the fitness 'games' available through Wii. I came across Zumba again, did a search for it, and it seemed pretty cool. As 2011 rolled around, I like most people, reaffirmed my resolution of becoming fit, started looking around for fitness classes, et voila! Zumba classes at my local Y, and lots of them too! I guess you notice things that you are thinking about (even if subconsciously), or as 'The Secret' book would say, I have put my Zumba force out to the universe somehow, and now I can get my groove on, rekindle my passion for latin music and dancing, and feel happy while working out!